The $242.2 million preliminary spending plan currently includes no tax increase.

The district can hike taxes by up to 2.6 percent under state law and also apply to the state for exceptions to the annual property tax cap. The district estimates the maximum tax increase, including exceptions, could generate $7.59 million in school property taxes.

Superintendent Joseph Roy emphasized that this is just a starting point for the months-long budget process. The district is complying with the budget timeline outlined in Act 1 of 2006, he said. All Pennsylvania school districts must pass a budget by June 30.

"Our job is to take that 16.9 (million dollars) and start to work it down piece by piece," Roy said.

The district has already culled $2 million from the budget but its work is just beginning, Roy said.

Business manager Stacy M. Gober explained that 93 percent of the district's budget is comprised of non-discretionary spending.

The overall budget is projected to grow by 7.7 percent but only 3.14 percent of that is costs the district can control. About $11 million of the deficit includes mandated employee pension and charter school expenses.

Bethlehem expects to see its charter school costs rise by $6.7 million to $20.5 million and its contributions to employee pensions will jump by $4.4 million to $20.7 million. The district plans to again tap $1 million from its $26.8 million savings account to help weather the ongoing spike in pension contributions, Gober said.

About $18.9 million of the savings account is not designated for certain expenses, but Gober cautions against relying on one-time money for ongoing expenses.

"It is like using your savings account to pay your light bill," she said.

The
board is set to vote on the preliminary budget Feb. 10. It will hold budget workshops March 19 and April 24. Final budget adoption is
scheduled for June 16.

Charter schools are free, public schools run by private entities. When a student leaves Bethlehem for a charter school, the district pays tuition to the charter. If all 1,500 charter school students returned to Bethlehem Area, it would cost the district $5 million to hire the needed teachers, Roy said.

"Charter schools are not cost-neutral," he said. "... There's a cost to school choice."

Bethlehem wants to continue its tradition in recent years of sustainable budgets that align with the district's road map for educational excellence, Roy said.

"What can we preserve and are there things we can restore?" he said the administrative team is asking.

The preliminary budget adds remediation services for struggling students, a high school career pathways management system as well as the science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based Project Lead the Way curriculum.

The district has a wish list of things it hopes to add into the budget. Four elementary schools are losing a grant that funds after-school programming, which Roy hopes to continue at a cost of $181,743.

Bethlehem expanded its full-day kindergarten offerings this year and hopes to add six more classes in 2014-15 at a cost of $408,303. The district needs $951,000 in network infrastructure and computer upgrades. Bethlehem's alternative education offerings are lacking and, Roy said, he hopes to add $300,000 into the budget.

The district also wants to make lacrosse an official school sport at a cost of $80,000. Lacrosse is currently the district's only club sport. The teams receive no financial support and the district doesn't have oversight of the hiring of coaches or the team, Roy said.